I laughed because that lie made everything so much easier for him to accept while he waited for his share of the inheritance to arrive. My mother never came over to speak to me as she sat at a far table with her hands wrapped around a cold paper cup.
After the recess ended the judge found the evidence to be credible and upheld the transfer of the duplex and the investment account to me. He also made a statement for the record about false testimony and referred the matter to the district attorney for a formal review.
The part I remember most was standing in the hallway afterward and feeling the hot Arizona air hit my face like a physical weight. My mother was waiting near a water fountain and she looked much older now that she was no longer performing for a judge.
“I really did take care of him for all those years while you were gone,” she whispered as I tried to walk past her toward the exit. I looked at her and said that I already knew that was true but that it did not excuse the things she said.